TechDays – Some Q&A
John Oxley has received a lot of email on Techdays and he responds to some of it here.
“Hello Everyone!
Your feedback on TechDays has been great and I really want to thank you so much for taking the time to share your comments with me. I thought, as there has been three major themes in all the questions, I’d share my answers both broadly and individually via direct email.
Firstly, thanks for all the positive comments on bringing the technical conference series to Canada. It is an exciting time. The team is pretty jazzed about doing what we can to support your development and passionate about being a positive contributor to the ICT industry. We can’t wait until you attend and experience the event, so we can get your feedback to make it better….for next year.
Secondly, I’ve had some comments on if there is a discount for students and user groups. Short answer is no as this is an already subsidized conference. Long answer: It costs a lot to bring this level of technical conference to Canada and since we wanted this type of training to be accessible to all, we’ve invested quite a bit to make the early bird price as low as it is. Our cost to deliver this conference series on a per per person level is well over the full costs of $499.99 (2 Day event) and $249.99 (1 day event). To that point we are committed to supporting you and your development/skills growth.....So, please take advantage of the early bird price as soon as you can.
Thirdly, While I’m sorry that the Toronto date is the same time as the professional developers conference we did have to think about the broad audience. We tried to get a different date and were limited in the availability due to our short booking time (I guess you need about a years notice). On a positive note, for those not able to go to PDC, now they have the opportunity to attend a technical conference with similar depth of content in Canada.
Again, Thanks for all your comments and keep them coming. Personally this is an important challenge and a needed conference that I’m excited about being a part in bringing to Canada. Your support has been wonderful and I’m going to make it a point to be at most if not all the cities to do a listening tour in order to gain more of your feedback to make this even better next year. So when you come, hunt me down and share your thoughts.
The team also reminded me that…….It’s all about the BLING and if you what to show your excitement, please check out the the “badge / bling” page use it as you like to share your passion and download/use the TechDays Countdown gadget if you’re a real geek like me.
As always, please get engaged, enjoy your journey and reach out to share your experiences. You can connect directly to me or my team via our blogs or please don’t hesitate to email me at john.oxley@microsoft.com .
John”
Rick Claus is also getting questions and he answers them here.
“John Oxley’s 2nd post on TechDays has raised a couple of questions in his personal email (yes, that email is his personal email). I thought it best if they came in the form of a quick Monday morning post – the week the registration site goes live.
Here they are..
1) “To that point we are committed to supporting you and your development/skills growth.....So, please take advantage of the early bird price as soon as you can.” Where is the url to register so I can take advantage of this price?
a. URL coming early next week......just putting the finishing touches on it this weekend. – Keep your eyes on the blog as it will go up there first
2) At HHH Toronto they had many screens so people at the back could see and hear.
a. We’re trying to make the rooms more intimate with enough screens and there won’t be a big keynote room like there was a HHH....I think the biggest room holds just about 450.... this is really about technical content
3) I need to wake up early and drive to Toronto so having energy drinks like Bawls guarana and full throttle would be great
a. I’m not sure about the energy drinks....yet I will look into it (NOTE: Rodney and Rick are known to have Energy Drinks. Track down the shoes or Hat)
4) A breakfast would also be great because I usually don’t have time if I need to rush to Toronto to be there on time
a. We will have a breakfast on both days, morning snacks and coffee at breaks, lunch and afternoon snacks and coffee at breaks
Any more questions? you can keep them coming here in the comments section or use the email link . It drops into 4 mailboxes directly – not just John Oxley’s… Be sure to include your real email address if you wish a direct reply.”